Warped Reality
by coderiku
Summary: "She missed the warped world of the field; The only question was: was she ready to dive back in?"/ Ariadne/Arthur and slight Ariadne/OC! R&R please! /
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Whelp, I've jumped on the bandwagon. But I couldn't really help it, the movie was 'effing brilliant really. This fanfic isn't really planned out by the way, I have a general idea, but that's it. So if you have any suggestion for what comes next, feel free! :)

There will be slight Ariadne/OC and some Arthur/Ariadne as well.

Btw, Arthur is pure win.

That is all.

PS- This Fanfic is much more interesting to read if you listen to the soundtrack as well.

One month.

One whole month had passed after that event.

Had it really been that long?

Ariadne could still feel the snow biting her lips, the elevator's explosion heat her skin, and the sudden burst of cold water that enveloped her body every time her head hit the pillow. She would never forget the intense fear that had stolen her breath away when Fischer was shot. The pounding of her heart filling her ears when she had fallen off the building in limbo.

And she missed it.

She missed having that incredible sense of... Power, in the field. Shifting everything to her likening, being, in a sense, a God.

Ariadne remembered what Arthur had said at the start: _"He said you'd come back."_

And she wanted to. Even after all the events that had taken place, almost going into limbo forever, she wanted to go back to that place. That place where, quite literally, dreams were made.

Ariadne sighed and looked up from the blueprint she had been designing for class. Slowly, she reached into her desk, and felt around for a moment, searching for something. She pulled out the golden chess piece and for a moment, just took in the simple design.

"_An elegant solution for keeping track of reality."_ She remembered talking to Arthur again.

Arthur. How was he doing? Ariadne remembered when they had all exited the plane, relief flooding through them, and she remembered how Arthur had tentatively approached her, handing her his cell number. _"I'll... Be around if want, y'know, to talk and stuff,"_ And she remembered how her heart had given the slightest of all flutters and how she had given him a small smile, something that had been sorely missed after their experience and accepted the slip of paper.

She hadn't called him yet.

But maybe...

Just maybe...

Arthur could possibly still have the key to entering dreams.

He wouldn't deny her one last go, right?

Ariadne reached for her purse now, searching the contents of it until she produced the number. She lifted the phone from her desk and dialled the number.

It rang once, twice. The third ring was cut short and she heard the familiar tone replace the noise: "Hello?"

Ariadne felt her heart stop for a moment as she recognized the voice. "Hey Arthur," she said after regaining her composure. "It's Ariadne."

"Oh wow!" She noted the sudden change in the tone of his voice, from slightly irritated to greeting an old friend. Had they been friends? Was it alright to consider yourselves friends after weeks of planning and carrying out the most incredible 'Inception' they had ever done? "I was thinking you may have lost my number," she could picture him grinning slightly now, probably relieved that she hadn't in fact forgotten about him.

"Nah, just found it now," Ariadne suddenly wondered if this was even worth it anymore. She could always just hang up and forget about this. She could go back... To her incredibly dull life of trying to meet deadlines, study for exams, and continue to fall deeper into the hole of her monotonous life. No. She would go through with this. But she would need a plan to rope Arthur into helping her. "So, I was wondering... Do you want to meet up for lunch sometime?"

Ariadne had picked the coffee house for a reason. It was one that reminded her of the one that she had visited so often in Cobb's dreams to train her. She liked the quaint look of it anyway, and it did serve very good tea. A perfect place for a date.

Arthur grinned at her as they sat down. It was slightly nervous looking, but a grin nonetheless. "So, what have you been up to?"

Ariadne shrugged. "Not much really, just bored out of mind," she needed to play her cards well if she wanted to get to the field again.

Arthur lifted an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

"Yeah, that's why I called you. I was bored," Ariadne wondered silently to herself how Arthur had managed that eyebrow thing of his.

"I didn't know I was that good company," his slight smile this time made her blush. _'Don't concentrate on that right now'_

"Trust me, you can be pretty interesting," Ariadne smiled as she looked down into her cup of coffee.

"_Quick, give me a kiss!"_

"Well, you never really got to know the regular me during our time together... Just work-me really," he added sugar to his tea. "So your information might be flawed."

_Ariadne quickly gives him a kiss and then looks around. "They're still looking at us,"_

She continued smiling as she watched him sip his tea. "Well, I guess now would be a good time to catch up on the real you then, wouldn't it?"

"_Yeah, it was worth a shot."_

Arthur nodded. "I guess so,"

"So, what have _you_ been up to?"

He seemed startled for a moment, and then quickly composed himself. "Oh, this and that,"

Ariadne tried to replicate his eyebrow from before. "That's not very helpful, Arthur. How am I supposed to catch up with you if I don't even know what you're doing right now?" She leaned in closer. "It wouldn't have anything to do with _dreams_ again, would it?"

Arthur looked away. "So that's what this was about,"

"What? Arthur, no-"

"I know that you like the field, Ariadne," he shook his head as he stood up. "If you don't watch yourself, this could turn into an obsession. Take me word on this: forget about the dreams, please."

Ariadne tried to grab his arm as Arthur began to leave. "I swear, that's not why I-'' But he shook her off.

_She looked down in embarrassment, realizing the trick that Arthur had pulled. A smile secretly played over her lips._

"Arthur!" She called to no avail as he got into his car. As he drove past, she caught the look of hurt on his face; it caused a twang of guilt in her heart as she realized that he had really wanted to connect again, maybe even on a deeper level than before.

Well, if they had been friends then, they probably weren't now.

"Excuse me?" the waiter came up behind her. "Miss, are you done?"

"Oh, um, yeah..." Ariadne fumbled with her purse, and pulled out her wallet along with her chess piece. It fell to floor with a slight clink, and she quickly scrambled to get it.

"Something important to you?" the blonde-haired waiter asked, motioning towards her totem as she gave him a few bills.

"Oh, um" she shrugged. "It was... Now it's just useless really." She grabbed her coat and threw it on again; the chilly fall weather was starting to get to her now.

"Are you sure?"

Ariadne felt her long brown hair whip at her face as she turned around to face the waiter.

He smiled, grabbing the glasses from her now empty table. "I could help you, you know."

"...Help me with what exactly?" Ariadne felt her suspicions increase as the man just continued to smile. It was becoming rather eerie now.

"I know a way to get you to the field."

No.

No way.

He had been listening in on her and Arthur's conversation earlier.

He knew what the field was.

And he had a way of getting there.

But was being truthful about this?

"How do I know if I can trust you?"

The man simply shrugged. "You can't. That's up for you to decide, isn't it?" He turned around. "Well, if you're not interested-"

"Wait!" Ariadne honestly couldn't believe that she was doing this. "How- how can you get me there?"

"My shift ends at four," he grinned. "Come see me here, I'll show you then."

"...Alright."

He turned to leave again, and just as he was about to go inside again Ariadne spoke up again. "What's your name?"

"Damien," he flashed a set of his perfect white teeth and slipped inside.

Ariadne ran from the cafe as fast as her feet could possibly go. Thoughts flew through hermind- a million a minute it seemed.

Who was this man? Would he really be able to bring her back to her separate reality? Was she able to trust him?

"_Why is it so important to dream?"_

She missed the warped world of the field.

"_Because, in my dreams we are together."_

The only question was: was she ready to dive back in?

**A/N: **So there you go! Hope you enjoyed it so far, and review if you can! Even if it's just dropping a comment off orconstructive criticism (:

Hope you guys get pumped for the next chapter!


	2. Chapter 2

For the couple of hours, Ariadne had taken to wandering around downtown LA. It was supposed to keep her mind off the last few events, but if anything it was doing the complete opposite. All she could think about was Damien, and how he could very possibly, have a way into the field again.

Ariadne was feeling that rush again, of excitement, longing, and soon to be power. God, she'd missed those feelings. So what if Arthur was right about this becoming an obsession? It wasn't going to harm him, so why did he care?

_"As he drives past, she catches the look of hurt on his face; it causes a twang of guilt in her heart as she realizes that he had really wanted to connect again, maybe even on a deeper level than before."_

Well, maybe he did care.

And thinking about the situation more now, Ariadne wondered if there had been hidden intentions, even from here conscious mind, about Arthur. There had been something slightly odd, the way she had reached out so determined towards her cell phone, how her heart had felt when she was around him. What was it though? That feeling?

Love?

But it couldn't be that, no not possible. Sure, she had become good friends with Arthur but-

Oh wait, she wasn't friends anymore.

Could she fix that?

Reaching into her bag, she could feel her heart pounding slightly. Out came her cell phone, she quickly hit redial- after all; Arthur's number was the last one she had called.

_"Hey, it's Arthur, I'm doing something right now, but if you leave your number I'll get back to you eventually."_

A beep brought her back to reality. "Oh, um, hey Arthur," What _to say? Why was she calling him again?_ "Ummm, I was just calling to say... I'm really sorry about the whole 'dreams' thing, and uh," _How can I make it up to him?_ "I just, wanted to make it up to you somehow... Y'know, if I can... So if you could call me back sometime, that'd be," _What? Nice? Thrilling? Stupendous?_ "That'd be great."

Ariadne hung up, feeling the stupidity of her phone call creep into her mind. Why on earth had she even bothered to call him again? She hadn't seen him in almost a month, she had only called because she had wanted to visit the field again.

Right?

But there was something else nagging in the back of her mind, that she had just needed a reason to call him, to talk to him, to see him in the flesh again, instead of just reliving their short experiences in mind over and over again.

Which brought her back to the field. It was true, she missed it like a chunk of her had been torn out, missing for what felt like an eternity. But she missed Arthur, for some odd reason as well. But it's not like she needed to choose between them. Of course not, Ariadne would meet up with Damien, and hopefully just hook herself up with one more dream, then she could get back to her regular college life, and hopefully make amends with Arthur.

Ariadne looked up at the strangely sunny October sky above her, the chilly wind, bit at her skin even though she was wearing her coat. Feeling incredibly anxious by now, she checked her cell for the time. 3:40. She still had at least ten minutes to spare before she needed to head back to the cafe. But what? Running around had already proved it's 'usefulness' of taking her mind off of everything, and she had already wrapped herself so far into the city, she could basically only do one thing: wait out the time.

The thoughts of time brought her thoughts back to the field again. The way time accelerated so much faster there, how five minutes here could turn itself into an hour there. How long would she stay if Damien held true to his offer? An hour, a day? To just create and build, to become a reigning super-human for just one last time.

3:48; Ariadne decided this was close enough.

"One last time," she whispered to herself.

It would be, right?

The cafe had lost its bustling customers as Ariadne watched the workers there close up the shop. The late afternoon light tinted the windows slightly yellow, and she could just make out the figure of Damien cleaning up. He was obviously used to this sort of thing, and yet Ariadne had never seen him work there before in her life. Perhaps he was new, just to this shop.

Whatever his case was, he'd finished up now. Still in uniform, he said his good-byes to the other workers as he went out the door, flashing the same grin he'd used on Ariadne earlier. She felt a slight tingle in her stomach as she suddenly came to grips with what she was doing. She didn't even know this guy. What if he was just making up all of this as an elaborate trick so he could steal her away? But the promise of going back to the field was such a strong pull, she really didn't care. It was now or never.

"So you came," Damien's smooth voice cut into her rapid thoughts.

"What, you thought I wasn't going to? I told you I was going to come." She pulled her coat tightly to her chest, feeling her suspicions creep back in.

"Yes, well," he cocked his head to the side, as if in deep thought. "Girls can be very confusing at times."

She felt a smile give away on her face. "More than you would ever know,"

Damien merely shook his head and grinned.

"So, where are we going anyway?" Ariadne felt nostalgia take over as the scene taking place now reminded her of when she had first met Cobb.

"_Mr. Cobb has a job offer he would like to discuss with you."Her professor motions for Ariadne to come see him._

_Ariadne tips her head to the side, confused. "Some kind of work placement?"_

"_Not exactly."Cobb grins and walks off._

"Not too far," Damien smiled.

"Very evasive, aren't you? Well, I'll take your word for it."

They ducked around corners, in and out of buildings, and through crowded streets until they reached a very ordinary apartment building.

"This way," Damien motioned towards the entrance of the building.

"Do you live here?" Ariadne looked around; the building gave off an air of importance, with all of its fancy decor. Was Damien rich? Well, if he dealt in dreams, as a side-job even, she knew that he probably was. After all, those jobs never came cheap. She herself had used the pay that she had received from Saito to enrol in a new university in LA instead of the one she had been at in Paris.

"Usually," they walked into an elevator.

"Meaning?" she watched Damien punch in the number 9 and the cart began to move up.

"Sometimes I'll crash at one of my friends places, it's nothing out of the ordinary," they were signalled to leave when a soft _ding!_ came from above the door.

"I see..." Ariadne could feel her heart beating faster now, excitement flowing through her veins as if it were a drug. They stopped at a room numbered "903" and Damien pulled out a key.

"Your dreams await you," he did a funny sort of bow, causing Ariadne to giggle as she walked in.

The apartment was clean, for a single to man to be living there anyway. There were only a few pieces of clothing strewn on the floor and some DVD's in a messy stack next to the TV, but other than that; clean.

"Take a seat," Damien motioned towards the black leather couch in the room.

Ariadne removed her coat slowly and then took a tentative seat as told. Damien took her coat and his and placed them in a closet next to the door. "I'll be back with the machine a second, think you can hold on to your excitement 'til then?"

Ariadne realized that her hands had been shaking since they had entered the building. She gave a quick nod, unable to speak for the next task at her door was taking over her mind, obsession for it, the absolute _need_ to get back there. Her heart was pounding like a drum, she felt surprised that Damien hadn't noticed the noise yet.

There was a bit of rustling coming from the room Damien had entered, and then he appeared with a very familiar box. Ariadne froze, as her breath caught in her throat at the sight of it, a sight for sore eyes. The field was so close now...

"I never did catch your name."

Broken away from her thoughts, Ariadne shook her head slightly then spoke. "Ariadne,"

"That's a very pretty name, is there a story behind it?" Damien began to pull out the string-like needles from the box.

"N-none that I'm aware of..." God, she really was obsessed, wasn't she? Stumbling over her words like that...

"That's too bad," he handed her the line. Her hands trembled as she took it. Damien mirrored Arthur's eyebrow-lift from before. "Jesus, are you okay?"

"Fine, I'm fine," Ariadne fumbled with it, trying to remember how to attach the needle to her wrist.

"Here, let me help," Damien took the line and with skilled hands, attached it to her.

_Breathe. Calm down._

"Ready?" Damien looked over at Ariadne for any sign of approval.

She took a deep breath and then gave a curt nod, looking up at the ceiling as she did. Damien gave a small, knowing smile and then pressed the button.

She heard the soft whistle of as it was pressed down, and then the regular whistling noises as they began to breathe in sync with the chemicals being pumped into themselves.

She was ready to dive in.

**A/N: Sooo, hoped you liked it! To answer everyone's questions, yes, this fic will eventually turn into a Ariadne/Arthur fic :D Damien is just there to shake things up XD**

**Also, I happen to be looking for a Beta for this, so if anyone would like to volunteer...**

**I'm such a beggar –is shot-**


	3. Chapter 3

"So now I have a question for you," Ariadne started as she and Damien walked down the crowded street. It was a market, bustling with everyday life.

"Shoot," Damien smiled as he paid for an apple from one of the stalls.

"Why are you in my dream?"

"Oh, well, consider it a finder's fee." He took a bite out of the apple, spraying juice everywhere.

"Finder's fee?" Ariadne felt herself growing tired of the marketplace. Perhaps a park instead? She smiled as she watched the stalls around her dissolve and turn into trees and statues instead, and the ground below change from gravel to dirt and grass.

"Well you know, this may be your dream, but I helped you here. I think it's only fair that I get to tag along," Damien informed her as he glanced around the sudden change in area. "Not bad." He flashed her that infamous grin of his, the one that complimented his teeth so well.

"This is nothing," Ariadne shrugged. "I've had to create three whole levels before,"

"_Dreams within dreams is too unstable!" Yusuf exclaimed in anger, and perhaps a hint of fear._

"You've gone in that far?" Damien sounded impressed. "Why?"

"Um, this isn`t something I`d prefer to discuss with someone I`ve just met," She stopped walking suddenly as she met up with a lake. "Where'd this come from? I never put it here..." She looked back at Damien; his bright blue eyes were sparkling with delight at her sudden predicament. "That wasn't very nice." A giant bridge rose up from the water, causing waves of it to sweep on to the shore. She paralleled Damien's bow from earlier. "After you,"

On the bridge now, they continued to walk, Ariadne in front. She could feel her thoughts wandering again. How was Arthur? Had he called her back yet? Was he willing to forget about their recent fight?  
Ariadne suddenly noticed a figure walking towards them on the seemingly never-ending bridge.  
"Shoot," She mumbled in annoyance. Letting your mind wander in the field was always a bad idea. Especially if it was about something... Emotional.  
"Something wrong?" Damien regarded her recent comment.  
"Oh, nothing much. Just my subconscious out to get me," Ariadne huffed and instinctively grabbed Damien. The figure was too close for comfort now, she could clearly tell it was Arthur.  
"What, who is it?" Damien shook her off, Ariadne felt a slight sense of loss as he did so, though she was unsure as to why. "Oh, your dealer." He rolled his eyes.  
"My... Dealer?" Ariadne looked from Damien to Arthur in confusion.  
"Your dream-dealer, obviously," he stepped in front of Ariadne protectively. "Look, if he kills us, it's not a big deal- we only have a few minutes left here anyway."  
"But what's a dream dealer-"  
"Ariadne, who's this?" Arthur had stopped inches away from Damien, cocking his head to the side as if he was a curious child. "I don't believe we've met."  
"Arthur, he's no one, you should get out of here now-"  
"No, no I don't think he's 'no one'," Arthur took a step closer, his and Damien's noses were touching now.  
Ariadne sucked in her breath. "Damien, who's subconscious are we in?" She asked quickly.  
"Yours," he breathed.  
Arthur pulled out a gun. There was a shot in front if her, and Damien disappeared. "Now we're alone." This Arthur was reminding Ariadne of someone _very_ familiar.  
"What do you want?" If what Damien said was true about there only being a bit of time left in the dream, then perhaps she could just stall her subconscious into waiting it out, doing so to spare her of any pain of having to die to escape.

"That's the problem," Her subconscious-Arthur had a confused expression now. "I'm not quite sure." He looked back at his gun.

Ariadne felt her heart beat painfully against her rib-cage. _But why? _"A-Arthur I don't think you should use that again," she quickly spit out, feeling a very real feeling of fear creep into her heart.

"But, Ariadne, you hurt me- don't you think it's fair that I hurt you as well?" Arthur slowly raised the gun again. Ariadne, having little experience with people and guns before did the only thing that came instinctively at the moment.

She ran.

Not for very long though. As she began her sprint, the sound of a gun-shot not far from behind rang out, and then suddenly, there was a very sharp pain in the back of her skull. Then it flooded everywhere- her forehead, neck, her spine. Time seemed to slow down as she fell to the ground- but no, that wasn't the ground...

The room felt cooler than before, Ariadne sat up as though she had been pushed violently forward, clutching the back of her head, still feeling the pain coursing through it for a moment. She sucked in her breath, valuing every bit of oxygen that she met in her lungs.

_You're not dead._

But it still felt so very real.

"So what was the big idea?"

Ariadne jumped slightly at the sudden tone of voice that came from behind her. "Oh, hey Damien..." She turned around to meet his piercing blue eyes.

"Why did you bring your Dealer into the dream?" Damien ran his pale fingers thought his hair. "Were you getting bored of my company?"

"No, I wasn't," Ariadne felt herself finally calm down, fumbling with her totem. That was not how she had imagined her last bout in the field to go. "And why do you keep calling Arthur my 'dealer'?"

"Is that his name, Arthur?" Damien threw himself down on the couch next to her.

"Stop avoiding my question!" Ariadne felt herself becoming angry. Maybe it was because of the last all-nighter she had pulled just a few days ago, maybe it was because she had skipped out on coffee at the cafe with Arthur. Or maybe it was because she couldn't take any more craziness in one day. No matter the cause, she could feel it bubbling inside of her now, like a boiling pot left unattended.

"All right, jeez!" Damien threw his hands up in front of himself, as though surrendering to something. "A Dealer- well, Dream-Dealer –is somebody who supplies your dreams for you, and you pay them accordingly for the amount of time they gave you in the dream. Just like what we're doing now,"

Ariadne felt a horrible feeling sink inside her as Damien's words took root in her mind. So there was such thing as black-market dreaming, and she had just given herself into it. Did this mean she owed Damien money now? And that he had assumed Arthur was in on the same sort of money-making scheme he was as well? She slowly wrapped her arms around herself, realizing the situation she had put herself in. This was probably going to turn into an ugly situation.

"Ariadneeee," Damien waved his hand in front of her face. "You in there?"

Ariadne snapped her head up and arms away from her body. "Erm, yeah, right here," _How am I going to get out of this?_"S-ooo, you mean to say that I owe you money?"

"I would've thought you had done this before with your earlier Dealer," Damien smiled slightly. Was he catching on to Ariadne's unknowingness?

"Well," Was it okay to let him know about Arthur's real job? "He, um, isn't my Dealer. In fact, I didn't know about this whole Dream-Dealing business before. Arthur has a friend with the machine who let me use it once." _It wasn't far from the truth. Right?_

"I just wanted to try it again, that's all."

"Ohhhhh, I see!" Damien hit his head playfully. "Well, since you didn't know, I'll make it half price, 'kay?"

Not exactly what she had been hoping for, but do-able, hopefully. "Uhhh, sure," Ariadne grabbed her purse. "How much?"

"W-ell, an hour in the Dream Field is 5 minutes here, the usual price is $56, but I'll give it to you for a mere $28," Damien tapped his head.

_A mere?_ Ariadne dug into her purse for her wallet, pulling out he wallet and a few other things in the process. The rest of the objects clinked to the floor, but Ariadne paid them no heed. Damien glanced at the fallen items and then reached down to pick them up. As she pulled out two crisp ten dollar bills, a five, and a few coins she looked over at Damien and noticed him poking around at the objects (what were they?) he had picked up. She quickly snatched them from his hand, dropping them in her pant pocket. "Here you go," She grumbled at him.

"What, aren't you happy you got to go back to the field?" Damien looked genuinely curious this time.

"Well, it didn't turn out quite as I had planned," she stood up in a huff.

"Well, then," Damien stood up as well, digging around in his pockets. "Take this," he produced a very bent business card. "In case you ever want another go. No finder's fee either next time!" He gave her his infamous grin.

Hesitation. Acceptance quickly followed.

Damien's grin twisted into a smirk as Ariadne took the card from his hand. "I certainly hope to see you soon."

The ringing of a cell phone interrupted the sudden quiet surrounding the room. Ariadne realized that the sound was coming from her purse and she immediately took it as a sign to get herself out of Damien's apartment as soon as possible. "I'll be going now," she said quickly as she grabbed her purse and coat, then swiftly exited the apartment.

Sighing with relief as she felt the awkwardness leave once she closed the door, Ariadne went to tend to her still-ringing cell. Not even bothering to check caller ID, she flipped it open and began walking towards the elevator. "Hello?"

"Oh, Ariadne, hey!" She stopped short as her heart seemed to skip a beat. "It's Arthur, um, you called earlier..."

"Yeah," Ariadne quickly sucked in her breath and remembered that she had been walking towards the elevator. "Look, I feel bad as I said earlier and I was just wondering if I could make it up to you somehow." Why was she silently begging for him to say yes?

"Um, I guess so... I mean, it's not that big of a deal-"

"I really want to do this!" Ariadne was even unsure of how that had managed to come out. "It's just, uhh, please Arthur?"

"Well, alright, what did you have in mind?"

What _did _she have in mind? "Well, how about we retry that coffee-date?" Date... The word felt worlds **away** from what she was used to. But it wasn't really a date. Right?

"Sure, let's give it a try," Ariadne hoped that Arthur was smiling. It sure did sound like it.

**EDIT: Whops! I forgot to put an author's note XD Well, not much to say, I'm really sorry it was so late though! .**


End file.
